Sprlta

Study

Study: Prayer May Lead to a More Cooperative Relationship

C. Price

Written by: C. Price

C. Price

C. Price is part of DatingAdvice.com's content team. She writes advice articles, how-to guides, and studies — all relating to dating, relationships, love, sex, and more.

Edited by: Lillian Castro

Lillian Castro

Lillian Guevara-Castro brings more than 30 years of journalism experience to ensure DatingAdvice articles have been edited for overall clarity, accuracy, and reader engagement. She has worked at The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, The Gwinnett Daily News, and The Gainesville Sun covering lifestyle topics.

Discuss This! Discuss This!
Advertiser Disclosure

Is prayer a big part of your romantic relationship?

A study finds praying for your other half can lead to more forgiving behavior and a more cooperative relationship.

Led by former Florida State University doctoral student Nathaniel Lambert, who is now an assistant professor at Brigham Young University, the study found those who prayed more frequently for their partner were found to be less vengeful when discussing their partner’s bad qualities.

The study involved five methods to determine whether partner-focused prayer shifts individuals toward more cooperative behaviors and tendencies.

Undergraduate volunteers at FSU, who self-identified as being comfortable with prayer, were used for the research.

“Those who prayed were found to be less vengeful

when discussing their partner’s bad qualities.”

Co-author Frank Fincham, eminent scholar and director of the FSU Family Institute, said researchers know very little about the role prayer plays in romantic relationships.

“This is the first time that objective indicators have documented the impact of prayer in such relationships,” he said.

The study points out the goal of the research was to move beyond the limitations of previous, self-reported data.

The study further notes “not all prayer is expected to have the effects observed. In particular, prayer focused on other attributes of God, such as justice, omniscience and wisdom, would not be expected to produce the same effect as prayer focused on beneficence, love or mercy.”

Lambert and his colleagues are anticipating further study, applying the same methods to an older and more ethically diverse sampling of couples to ensure the results are not limited to just young adult relationships.

Source: Wiley.com.

Advertiser Disclosure

DatingAdvice.com is a free online resource that offers valuable content and comparison services to users. To keep this resource 100% free, we receive compensation from many of the offers listed on the site. Along with key review factors, this compensation may impact how and where products appear across the site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). DatingAdvice.com does not include the entire universe of available offers. Editorial opinions expressed on the site are strictly our own and are not provided, endorsed, or approved by advertisers.

Our Editorial Review Policy

Our site is committed to publishing independent, accurate content guided by strict editorial guidelines. Before articles and reviews are published on our site, they undergo a thorough review process performed by a team of independent editors and subject-matter experts to ensure the content’s accuracy, timeliness, and impartiality. Our editorial team is separate and independent of our site’s advertisers, and the opinions they express on our site are their own. To read more about our team members and their editorial backgrounds, please visit our site’s About page.